CARE
by Methbunny
Summary: A few word uttered from a distant peer can mend the heart. Is such a panacea addictive? - How far will your heart go to hear the words of another? [Makoto x Sosuke] [M]rated for sexual themes and mild language. "That Tachibana guy... He is awfully pleasant..." - "You're pretty amazing if you ask me..."
1. Planting a seed

CARE – Whale edition

Free! – Iwatobi Swim Club Fanfiction.

[M]rated.

[Makoto x Sousuke]

* * *

Chapter I - Planting a seed

With a final burst of strength, Sousuke Yamazaki tore through the blockade of water and slammed his palm against the side of the pool. He found the bottom of the pool with his feet and stood with both hands pressed against the pool side gasping for air and dripping wet as his eyes reflected the glistening blue below.

"Nice run! You got back faster than Haruka," a familiar voice informed. Sousuke looked up slowly and his eyes were met with an open palm as well as a grin and glossy red orbs. Teal eyes quickly glimpsed to the side in the pool, noticing Makoto with a similar gesture and expression to Rin before he pulled Haruka from the pool. Sousuke huffed contently to himself before grabbing Rin's hand and lifting himself out of the pool. Immediately he was greeted with a towel on his head, and so he grabbed it quickly and hung it around his neck.  
"This is your personal best, since finishing your new term of physio," Rin advised as he noted down the time. He was the only one not in his swimsuit, instead was wearing a black tank top and sweatpants. Sousuke took notice of the time yet his expression remained rather indifferent about it, not that he was displeased.  
However, seemingly in the instant Rin noticed Haruka out of the pool he ran over to brag about Sousuke's feat, which was slightly displeasing for the larger male whom rolled his eyes in response. Also somewhat tossed aside, Makoto wandered over to Sousuke, still in his trunks but much drier than the other two who had been swimming. He smiled sweetly before taking to Sousuke's side and watching Rin and Haruka.  
"Nice swimming out there today, Sousuke," Makoto muttered, still smiling at the antics of the other two,  
"Hm, thanks," the taller male replied also watching the others closely. After that they both silently observed. The group's arrangement of practicing together had been going on for about a month now, but Makoto and Sousuke still had little to say to each other, and any dialogue was initiated by Makoto unless it was a group conversation. However the awkward silence left Makoto feeling incredibly uncomfortable, especially seeing the other two chatting so naturally, well bickering would be a better term.  
"I'm glad to see you're back on top form, after everything." The green-eyed teen said, sounding incredibly sincere, but that was just typical; though not to Sousuke's knowledge.  
Sousuke immediately looked at the other, as if to analyse him. He continued to look at him without uttering a word until Makoto caught glimpse of the other watching him and so he looked back at him with a pleasant expression.  
"You seem to care a lot." Sousuke pointed out rather bluntly, though Makoto half expected a response like that or none at all.  
"I suppose…" Makoto responded to the statement and gave thought to something. "It would hurt all of us if something bad happened to you."  
Afraid of sounding weird or somewhat depressing, the brunette chuckled awkwardly, shutting his eyes to hide how uncomfortable he suddenly felt.  
The other was slightly taken back by the remark but he soon thought about it. Before long he folded his arms and also shut his eyes to give brief thought.

"I suppose you're right."

Before Makoto could act surprised at the other, the other two wondered back over to the group, Rin placing an arm around Sousuke and Haruka mutely taking stand at Makoto's side. With a smile, Makoto greeted the more familiar presence and then the four wandered back into the changing room, Rin idly chatting to Sousuke.  
The two pairs were somewhat split up in the changing room, separated by four lockers or so and taking stand at opposite ends of the small bench. Rin and Sousuke continued to chat, as Haruka silently got on with getting dressed despite not wanting to, again leaving Makoto somewhat tossed aside. That left him a moment to think.  
As he reached into his designated locker to find his clothes, he glanced over at Sousuke before turning with the corner of his eye before turning his head completely.  
 _"That whole conversation was slightly weird…I wonder how he took it…"_ the male thought. Sousuke looked over briefly and Makoto quickly hid his face in the locker in hope of not getting caught, causing the teal-eyed other to furrow his brow in question before neglecting to think about it. With a sigh, Makoto retrieved his clothes and continued getting dressed. His thoughts were kind of strange and he had no idea why he was thinking about it so much, but he decided not to worry about it until he got Haruka home safe.

"You guys ready?" Rin called over as him and his companion stood near the exit of his school's locker rooms. Makoto replied with a hearty nod and slight exclamation and Haruka slowly packed the last of his things away. He picked up his bag and they both met the others at the doorway. As they left the building they were greeted by a bright orange sky that spilled over the rooftops. The sun was setting so Haruka and Makoto had to hurry home before it got too dark. With a farewell, the two pairs split off in opposite directions.

Sometime down the line, on a path near the shoreline, Haruka muttered his first words in a long while,  
"What were you two talking about?" he asked, the question taking Makoto back slightly as he didn't think Haruka took interest.  
"Oh uhm, nothing important!" he said rather confidently as he peered over at the other. "Just congratulations."  
Haruka went quiet again signalling he was satisfied with the response although Makoto was still kind of shocked, but again he neglected the thoughts soon afterwards and waited until they got home.

Back in the Samezuka dormitories, Sousuke laid face up, staring at the ceiling with one earphone in ear and his hands tucked beneath his head. Rin walked in and glimpsed over at the other.  
"What are you thinking about so hard?" he asked, not really expecting a reply as he walked over to fill the vacant bed. Removing his earphone, the dark-haired teen waited until he heard Rin settling down below before he sighed and sought insight to his own thoughts.  
"That Tachibana guy…" he muttered softly. Rin was surprised and took sudden interest in the topic.  
"Yeah… what about him?" Rin responded and awaited another reply.  
"He is awfully pleasant. I didn't come across many people like that…" Sousuke continued before shutting his eyes and sighing contently.  
"Oh, he has always been like that. What did he say?" Rin prodded the thought, assuming Makoto must have said something to induce such a statement.

"Nothing much…"

* * *

Makoto waved Haruka goodbye cheerfully at the path to his home before making his own way home. It was pretty dark and he was hoping dinner was ready, his belly rumbling in response to that thought. He reached the front door of his home and let out a deep breath before opening it.  
"I'm home!" he announced cheerfully. A build-up of small footsteps occurred as two younger siblings ran up to greet him and he greeted them back with a gentle ruffle of their hair. His Mother announced that she left dinner out for him so he replied in gratitude.  
Before long the two siblings began to scuffle and let Makoto be. He chuckled softly at the two before going to find his food in the kitchen. He heated the meal and sat down muttering,  
"Thanks for the food," before enjoying his dinner in the peace of his own company. Once he had packed everything away, Makoto went straight up to his room to lay on his bed in thought, similarly to the teal-eyed counterpart.  
"I suppose I didn't say anything too out of the ordinary… Let me just forget this, there isn't really any reason to think over it in the first place," Makoto reasoned with himself and smiled as he cleared his head. Tiredness came down on the teen like a tonne of bricks and his eyelids started to waver, falling ever so slightly with every moment.

All of a sudden a buzzing arouse in his pocket, causing the weak-hearted teen to shudder awake in surprise. He dug into his pocket with a yawn before pulling the phone up to his face. Illuminated by the phone's backlight, Makoto's eyes studied the number on the screen. He was reluctant yet curious so he accepted the call and brought the phone to his ear.

"Tachibana...?" A deep voice muttered. Green eyes suddenly widened.

* * *

 **Methbunny:** Thank you for reading the first chapter and I hope you give this story a chance despite its idle beginnings.

This is my first update in a few years so I would appreciate reviews!

 **Stay tuned for Chapter two: "Nurture."**


	2. Nurture

Chapter II – Nurture.

"S-Sousuke?" Makoto sounded puzzled over the phone. Such a call was unexpected and eventually left him speechless,  
"I need to talk to you about something." Sousuke replied. He sounded calm and Makoto soon collected himself, picking up the mood of the call.  
"I- Yeah sure. I'm listening," Makoto smiled before realising his token expression couldn't stop him seeming less awkward over the phone.  
"Good. I think I should just cut the shit and stop swimming with you guys. After everything I don't think I will ever be at my best so I don't see the point anymore." He stated calmly over the phone. Sousuke was outside however, sat on a bench at the academy with his hood up and a crushed can in his hand. Upon inspection, a sharp edge of the damaged can cut his hand but he let it be.  
The olive-brown haired boy sat up in bed, confused and disheartened. Why was he talking to him about this? Makoto swallowed hard, confusion and sadness drawn all over his face. Even worse, Sousuke didn't seem to care at all.  
"Why would you think that?" Makoto argued, keeping his voice down however. "Especially after today. I thought you wanted to keep going for Rin's sake, and now that things are finally looking up you want to walk away from it. What about your time today-?"  
"It's not enough!" The other quickly barked back before breathing heavily. Makoto heard the pain in his voice just then and it echoed in his chest.  
"Have you spoken to Rin…?" Makoto asked. He was sure he knew the answer but needed assurance.  
"I'm speaking to you because I need someone who can understand. You seemed to care so much about others, regardless of swimming…" Sousuke said calming down. His voice was deep yet incredibly soft as he spoke. Makoto felt a weird feeling in his stomach as Sousuke spoke highly of him and it compelled him to want to understand, yet he doubted he could take any place in this issue.  
"I'm sure Rin will understand. Just speak to him…" Makoto suggested, pulling his knees up a bit closer to him and leaning back against the headboard of his bed.  
"It has to be you…" the teal-eyed other muttered for reasons he did not yet understand. "I want you to listen. It feels better talking to you."

Suddenly Makoto put on a smile yet he was hurt that this situation was laid on him.  
"Don't quit. I believe in you, we all do. I've always wanted to swim faster than Haru, yet watching you do it today felt just as important. If that's not enough at this point then I suppose I know less about competitive swimming than I thought. Haha…" He claimed calmly. His room was dark yet the small phone light revealed his soft smile and pink-stained cheeks. "You are pretty amazing if you ask me."

Sousuke held the phone to his ear without uttering a word. The can dropped to the ground and he rose from the bench outside the dormitories. With a gentle sigh, he removed the hood from his head and looked down at his hand.  
"I gotta go. I'll see you on Monday. Night." He explained before ending the call. He shoved his unharmed hand in his pocket along with his phone before going to the bathroom to clean his other hand. There was a small cabinet with first aid stuff so he covered up the small cut. Meanwhile Makoto let out a much deeper sigh and went back to laying down. He dropped his phone at his side and smiled once again. He seemed quite sure he had said the right thing just now, but even so doubted lingered like a bad headache. The situation wasn't at all now that simple. Makoto settled beneath the covers and allowed his eyes to close, but he couldn't get to sleep. He twisted and turned to get comfortable but that wasn't the issue at all.

In a sudden sporadic movement he grabbed his pillow and grasped it in his arms, nuzzling down into it with a soft sigh.  
"Sousuke…"

His head went over how he interacted with the teal-eyed male over and over again, trying to make sense of his own responses earlier; wondering why he cared about coming across weird with no real reasoning. Just wondering. But then naturally that point that nobody can really recall happened. Everything went black, and Makoto slept peacefully.

* * *

It was the sun that woke him up the next morning. It was awfully bright yet not too unpleasant, in fact Makoto woke up with a gentle smile and content sigh, yawning and stretching as he did every morning. He had no plans so he dedicated a moment to pondering an agenda, smiling once he got a fair idea of what to do, although realising he had nothing to do for hours. Suddenly his expression became confused. He blinked and looked down, to see he was wearing brown trousers and his shirt which had the top few buttons loose. He reminded himself that he had forced himself to sleep sometime after the phone call, although he must have ditched the tie in his sleep.

"Right then…" he said, in response to the unusual sleeping attire, and then got up with another stretch. He noticed the house was void of running footsteps and shouting but he chose to ignore that, digging into the cupboard and pulling out an outfit. He folded it over his arm and went over to the bathroom, turning on the shower and setting the clothes down before removing his own. Testing the shower water he climbed in and started to wash himself.  
"I wonder if he's okay… I hope he didn't leave…" Makoto thought to himself. Although he realised the awkwardness of thinking about someone in his current state and decided to continue to plan ahead with his day.

After drying himself off, the teen set to getting dressed, sporting a white t-shirt under a blue cardigan, some grey trousers and then some socks. His course of action was to revisit the fact the house was so quiet. He went straight to the kitchen to look and it wasn't long before he had found the answer. On the fridge there was a note, headed with 'Makoto' in bold, capitalized text written with a marker and then a more neatly written list of ingredients below. He then read on and found a small note.

 _"Your Father and I have gone to visit one of your Uncles in_

 _hospital, so please get the things on the list before this evening._

 _Also the kids are with the neighbours so you don't have to_

 _worry about them. Have a good day sweetheart._

 _Love, Mom. Xxx"_

Scratching his head, he folded up the list and stored it in his pocket. He was often obliged to do things straight away, so he sighed at the lost opportunity to be lazy. Before long he was ready to leave the house.

* * *

Rin was draped lazily over the side of his bed, picking up rolled-up socks and throwing them at Sousuke's back, though the dark haired male remain unfazed.

Sousuke was knelt down, tying his shoe laces before Rin muttered,  
"Oi—where the hell are you going so early…?"

"Out." Sousuke replied nonchalantly, continuing to focus on his shoe laces before standing up and opening the door to their dorm. "Also its 10 o'clock you should wake up. I'm going back to mine today so see you Monday." Sousuke heard sudden scrambling from the other's bed before closed the door behind him, voicing a soft chuckle at the other. It was always funny when Rin was tardy. He had developed a soft spot for the members of the swim team, so after seeing how they get in trouble for being late, Rin being late was always entertaining. Sousuke pulled his rucksack up onto his shoulder, forgetting about his hand injuring and feeling a soft pain which was barely a nuisance. Looking down at the band aid he thought of the night before, thinking more seriously about Rin for a moment, as well as Makoto. He quickly shrugged however and continued with his day.

* * *

As noon struck, Sousuke had finished shopping having picked up a few bits and pieces to cook from the market in town, along with some more practical things for where he was staying. He was tired of being surrounded by so many people, so he walked fast to leave the lane filled with market goers, all either flooding in or flooding out of the area. As he turned the corner however he saw a familiar face. He looked up in sudden surprise as he observed the other who was a bit further down the road. Suddenly his view was blocked by a young male running down the street with no coordination. He ran into an elderly woman's shoulder, causing her to drop her groceries on the floor. Her small dog barked from surprise and tried to tug to follow the running stranger. However, the familiar figure quickly ran ahead, kneeling down to collect the woman's groceries. The dog started barking at the figure but they quickly calmed the dog. The dog joyously jumped at the other, licking at their face and wagging its tail happily. Sousuke spectated the scene in awe. He watched the other hard and something inside of him forced him to gulp and his lips parted slightly.

Not a moment later Sousuke noticed the other bidding the elderly woman farewell and then start walking towards the market, as well as the fact that he had been staring. Not wanting to be caught, Sousuke quickly walked up to a stall and pretended to observe its contents, however ditching his usual cool composure. Before long, about as long as it would take for the person to continue some way down the road away from the market, Sousuke turned around.

"Ah, Sousuke!" A cheerful voice called out. Sousuke was greeted with a warm set of green eyes looking into his own, forcing another gulp.

* * *

 **Finally got the second Chapter out. Hope you enjoy how this is progressing and yes- I understand that I suck at inducing angst-  
**

 **Chapter 3 coming soon!**


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